


Cornflakes

by stayshinygirl



Category: Ocean's 8 (2018)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:09:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27999531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stayshinygirl/pseuds/stayshinygirl
Summary: All those times Lou Miller feels good. Even when she shouldn’t.
Relationships: Lou Miller/Debbie Ocean
Comments: 13
Kudos: 35





	Cornflakes

_2012_

_I feel so good when you say “us”._

Her mind runs faster than high-speed trains, her thoughts crash like waves against the coast. And every time she lets them out, Lou is there to listen. Because if there is one thing that Debbie Ocean can be sure of, that is her partner. Those big blue diamonds that follow every movement of her lips while she speaks, that shine every time her hands move in animated gestures, that sparkle when her hair dances with the wind.

But Lou Miller doesn’t only adore her partner’s mind, she also worships her body, her skin, her scent. Every single cell of the brunette, every centimeter of her is a piece of the puzzle that she has managed to put together during the years. She never gets tired of undoing that puzzle just to have another chance to do it again, to discover the form of a tiny piece she has never given too much attention to, just to discover another piece of Debbie Ocean.

Another piece she’ll fall in love with, that’s for sure.

And the puzzle is almost complete in front of her eyes, there is only one little missing piece that… slips away from her fingers when Claude Becker asks Debbie to partner up, and Lou shatters, the pieces of her own soul falling to the ground, right there where Debbie can step on them, just to hurt her a bit more, just to disintegrate what’s left of her.

“Deb…”

“It’s just a job. Only one job.” Should she feel reassured? Because she doesn’t. “I’m doing this for us.”

“For us?”

“Yes. _Us_. Because it’s all that matters to me.”

And she feels so good.

_2015_

_I feel so good when I get lost in wine and eat your cornflakes._

Debbie is in prison. Has been for a while now. And Lou can’t get rid of her things, can’t sell her stolen necklaces, especially those that shine like her hazel eyes. Can’t throw her clothes away, like that white dress that made her look like an angel; like a damned angel that can trap you in her arms just by fluttering her eyelashes.

Lou can’t toss Debbie’s favourite box of cornflakes away. And she’s sure they are expired, that they taste of everything but cornflakes. But she can’t.

And one night, after almost three years of absence and three bottles of Debbie’s favourite red wine, she grabs that box, opens it with anger, cornflakes falling on the counter and on the floor. And they are flavorless, but Lou tastes Debbie, tastes their breakfasts together, their nights spent watching movies with a giant bowl of milk and cornflakes in front of them. 

And she is wasted- but she feels so good.

  
  


_2018_

_I feel so good when during the night I text you “hi” and you reply “hey”._

She used to hate the dark when she was a kid. When her house in Australia was surrounded by darkness and the singing of the crickets was the only noise that would keep her company. Now she loves it. She thinks better during the night, in the dark of her room, she reflects, she meditates, she… hears the soft noises coming from the room next to hers. And she feels home.

The book is open next to her, yellow pages are waiting to be read, but she won’t, because it’s dark, because the quiet breathing that she can hear makes her heart clench at every exhale, hoping, waiting, desiring. 

The light coming from her phone disturbs her eyes when she taps on the screen, her fingers hesitating, her tongue wetting her dry lips.

_Hi._

She can hear the phone vibrating in the other room, she imagines a mess of brown curls and relaxed limbs reaching out for it, maybe smiling once the message is open in front of her eyes. Maybe shaking her head a little, maybe placing a hand over her heart to calm it down. Maybe.

_Hey_.

And she feels so good.

_Can’t sleep?_

She wasn’t expecting another message, but it arrives, only two seconds after the first one. And Lou Miller smiles, in the dark, only a wall physically dividing them.

She doesn’t have time to type back an answer, because those brown curls are now framing a beautiful smile that has the power to light the whole room up while the brunette peers around the room from the door, taking in the figure of her partner laying on the bed, a book next to her, a phone in her hand. And Lou doesn’t mind the light at this moment, because Debbie Ocean is the light.

“You know I can hear you, right? You could have called me, instead of…”, the sentence is left hanging incomplete between them, and Lou smiles, because Debbie hates phones and technology in general. But for Lou… she can make an exception.

The blonde taps on the bed, moving to make some space, and the book falls on the floor with a loud thud, but the two women don’t even notice it, their eyes too busy playing a game of limp gazes that would make everyone else blush or shift their eyes away. Their ears only notice each other’s breath. 

Debbie is gentle when she kisses her, on the lips, and Lou’s hand finds its place in her hair, tangling between long locks and vanilla scent.

And when she tries to ask for more, to reach for more with her tongue, Lou moves away slowly, her delicate fingers putting some distance between their faces, giving her room to study her features.

“Lay down with me?”, it’s a shy murmur and Debbie nods, because yes, they usually get very passionate and carnal during the night, but she can do this, she can lay down with her. Especially the night before the biggest jewellery heist in history.

And she feels so good.

  
  


2019

_I feel so good when I should shut up and instead I get in trouble._

Debbie’s fingers travel lazily on Lou’s naked thigh while she rests her head on her chest, Lou’s arm warm in a tight grip around her. She feels safe. Lou makes her feel safe.

“Aren’t you cold?”, she asks but she knows it’s a stupid question because Lou is never cold.

While Debbie always sleeps in her pajamas, Lou is always padding around the house only wearing panties and loose t-shirts during the night. As if Debbie would ever complain.

Lou only shrugs before leaving a chaste kiss on Debbie’s head.

“I can hear you thinking.”

Debbie feels the need to look at the other woman in the eyes, to memorize every shade of that icy blue once again, especially now that they are so busy wandering around in the dark. She lifts her head and holds it up with her hand, her other fingers still busy playing between Lou’s thigh and the cotton of her t-shirt.

“I know I shouldn’t say this, but-”

“You can tell me anything”, Debbie punctualises before leaving a chaste kiss on Lou’s open lips, her tongue sticking out just a bit, to ease the moment, to wet the dryness.

“I will get in trouble.”

“Trouble is my second name, babe.”

And she feels so good.

“I need to leave.”

Debbie’s breath is stuck somewhere in her throat and Lou closes her eyes, hiding the blue, while her hand reaches out to caress Debbie, her fingers drawing invisible patterns from her cheek to her neck, slowly, and she is undoing that puzzle again, she can feel it when Debbie shudders at her touch.

She opens her eyes. “I’ll come back.”

“When?”

When this doesn’t hurt anymore. When making love to you and waking up alone in the morning doesn’t rip me apart. When you come back to me because you actually want me and not because you have nowhere else to go. Because-

“Lou.”

“I need to. I need to take some time.”

“From me?” 

Lou nods and Debbie opens her mouth. But Lou is faster. “I waited for so long, Deb, so long. More than five years. And I thought that after the heist-”, a sob escapes from her lips and Debbie’s eyes water at the painful sound. And she can’t see it, but she is sure something inside her is bleeding. “You can’t give me what I want- what I really want, and I can’t live like this anymore. Let me go. Let me heal. And I’ll come back.”

And Debbie understands.

And she feels… good.

  
  


_2020_

_And then, during the night I realised that I was looking for you in a stupid romantic movie from last year. That I wanted to call you even though it was late and you were sleeping._

Debbie would never like something like this- but she would like to watch it with Lou, she would like to make fun of the too cheesy script, of the way the main characters pretend to not see a too obvious love, of the way they fight before making love. 

She would love to do anything with Lou. She would love to have her back, for example.

But Lou is watching this cheap movie alone, in a room too far from New York, in a room where the dark feels heavy and bothers her again. Because darkness is an enemy again, and the only person who can help her fight it is the only one she wants with her but she can’t have.

Because it’s been almost a year and she hasn’t kept her promise. She hasn’t gone back, she hasn’t stopped riding her bike to the most unknown hills of California. Because she is not healed and the truth is she will never be. Because blood doesn’t run in her veins anymore. Debbie Ocean does. And she can’t bleed to death just to untangle Debbie away from her life.

It’s late-night when the movie ends and the commercials fill her tv, too noisy and colorful. And Lou squeezes her eyes, her corneas wet because of the abrupt change of light on the screen, but she can’t fully close them, because the box of Debbie’s favourite cornflakes is dancing in front of her and the puppet on it is looking at her smugly, almost challenging her.

And Lou Miller accepts every challenge.

_I’m coming back tomorrow. Should I stop at the supermarket to buy Cornflakes?_

And once again, an answer that she doesn’t expect arrives, because yes, it’s late, but Debbie is not sleeping.

_I hope you remember which ones I prefer._

Lou smiles.

And she feels so good.

_2021_

_I feel so good when you are naked on the bed and I count your moles, and I should count until ten but I stop at six._

“This is Cassiopeia. Look, you have it right here, on the shoulder.” Debbie hums relaxed while Lou’s finger is tracing an invisible line from one mole to another one. “Cassiopeia was the most beautiful woman ever. They even tried to kill her because she was too beautiful.”

Debbie smiles sleepily while Lou goes on with her journey on her fiancée’s back. “Uh. Cepheus. Cassiopeia’s husband, right below her. He did everything to save her, even sacrifice their own daughter. It’s on your spine.”

Lou’s finger pressing against Debbie’s backbone has her moaning. Lou chuckles and bends to leave a kiss right where her finger is pointing, her breast brushing against Debbie’s arm in the process.

“That is… cruel.”

Lou licks the skin there and Debbie’s eyes roll back in her head. “It is. But can you understand how bad he loved her to do such a desperate gesture?”

“I do”, Debbie’s eyes sparkle against the pillow.

“Ha. Libra. The scales held by Dike, the goddess of justice. It’s right here”, her hand slides lower, almost reaching her butt.

“And what is that doing on my back?”

“I’m asking myself the same question, Jailbird”, she kisses her lips. “Altair, the eagle. Wow, Deb. This one is important. It means victory, longevity, pride.”

Lou moves the sheet away, exposing more skin of her partner, taking in her gloriously naked figure. “Is there anything meaning cold? Because I’m freezing here.”

“Shush. This is important. I’ll warm you up later.”

Debbie chuckles, literally chuckles, and she’s not even ashamed of it, because this is Lou’s effect on her. Her sweet and patient Lou.

“Pisces, the fishes.” Debbie shrugs in disgust. And Lou smiles, shaking her head. “No, listen to me. It’s important. Aphrodite transformed her son in a fish to escape from a monster.”

“Interesting. Do I have Aphrodite on there?”

Lou moves her eyes as if she is actually looking for it. “No, love. Sorry.”

Debbie snorts.

“But of course you have this one.”

“What is it?” Debbie asks, trying to raise up, her voice dripping with curiosity and Lou loves how the woman is genuinely interested in her stories. She pushes Debbie back against the mattress, leaving her hand there, right below her neck, where the ink of an old tattoo stains the skin.

“It’s right next to your tattoo”, Lou kisses it, “it’s the most important constellation. It’s the Ursa Major, the big bear. And only the most powerful women are strong enough to carry it on their skin. And you-”

Debbie frees herself from the grip Lou had on her and presses her lips against her fiancée’s. “I love you”, she says before caressing her tongue with her own, moaning against Lou’s cheek when she needs air and the kiss is too intense, too full of promises, to make her breathe properly.

Debbie’s hands are everywhere on Lou and the blond woman lets her, shivering, welcoming her frantic fingers.

“We said ten constellations, Debs.”

“We have time”, she kisses the interior of Lou’s thigh.

Lou whimpers and Debbie maps her skin with her tongue, not looking for any constellation this time.

“You accepted to marry me, after all.”

_And she feels so good._

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Cornflakes by Comete  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eE_2TRqVJ8
> 
> This is the song that inspired this short story. It's an Italian song but you should give it a try because it's worth it.
> 
> Thank you for reading,  
> Fede.


End file.
